:00:00. > :00:12.Good evening. Several hundred people have taken part in a rally on the
:00:13. > :00:16.Falls Road in West Belfast in support of Gerry Adams. The Sinn
:00:17. > :00:19.Fein President is still being questioned at Antrim Police Station
:00:20. > :00:23.about the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in 1972. He has
:00:24. > :00:28.denied involvement in the IRA killing. Mervyn Jess reports.
:00:29. > :00:30.Martin McGuinness got a rousing reception when he arrived at the
:00:31. > :00:50.Martin McGuinness got a rousing Gerry Adams supporters' rally in
:00:51. > :00:55.West Belfast this afternoon. No police force anywhere in the world
:00:56. > :00:59.is immune from criticism if it is acting in a partisan fashion. The
:01:00. > :01:04.arrest of Gerry Adams is evidence of that fact, that there is an element
:01:05. > :01:14.within the PSNI who are against the peace process and who hate Gerry
:01:15. > :01:21.Adams and hate Sinn Fein. They are what the reformers of the PSNI have
:01:22. > :01:24.described to us as the dark side. Earlier, the Justice Minister
:01:25. > :01:29.responded to claims of political interference in policing here. The
:01:30. > :01:33.police have a duty to investigate any evidential opportunity and they
:01:34. > :01:37.believe there is evidence they have to follow through on and they should
:01:38. > :01:43.do that, whether it is somebody from a Unionist, Republican or any
:01:44. > :01:46.background. One of the most senior republicans in Belfast told the
:01:47. > :01:48.crowd while Sinn Fein's leader had been arrested, it wouldn't stop the
:01:49. > :01:52.party vigorously contesting the upcoming elections. We have a
:01:53. > :02:03.message for the British government, the Irish government. We haven't
:02:04. > :02:07.gone away, you know. Is the arrest of Gerry Adams
:02:08. > :02:11.gone away, you know. Is the arrest the peace process
:02:12. > :02:14.gone away, you know. Is the arrest collapse? The peace process is no
:02:15. > :02:20.jeopardy. The peace process is strong and we are proud of it and we
:02:21. > :02:26.are determined it will continue. And the policing issue? Several hundred
:02:27. > :02:32.people have turned out in support of Gerry Adams and the main speaker has
:02:33. > :02:34.made clear that they continue to assert there is political
:02:35. > :02:39.interference in policing but that there is no threat immediately to
:02:40. > :02:44.the peace process. A man has appeared in court charged with
:02:45. > :02:47.having 2.5 kilos of Semtex. A detective said it was the largest
:02:48. > :02:51.amount of the explosive recovered here in the last ten years. Here's
:02:52. > :02:54.our reporter, Julian Fowler. 47-year-old Thomas Hughes from the
:02:55. > :03:01.New Lodge area of North Belfast is charged with having 2.5kg of Semtex
:03:02. > :03:05.with intent to endanger life. A detective said the explosive had
:03:06. > :03:12.been found on top of a water tank in an airing cupboard of his flat in
:03:13. > :03:16.Maeve House last week. He described the Semtex as being about the size
:03:17. > :03:21.of a house brick cut in two and was wrapped in cling film and tin foil.
:03:22. > :03:28.The officer said Semtex was used solely by republican terrorists. The
:03:29. > :03:32.detective said he believed the Semtex would be divided up to be
:03:33. > :03:36.distributed to other terrorist cells to make improvised explosive
:03:37. > :03:41.devices. Security sources say they believe the amount found could have
:03:42. > :03:48.made up to 20 under booby-trap bombs. -- undercard. The court was
:03:49. > :03:52.told that Thomas Hughes had an alcohol problem - an easy target for
:03:53. > :03:56.someone wanting to use the flat - and it was claimed he had lost one
:03:57. > :03:59.of his keys so that anyone could have had access to it. The defence
:04:00. > :04:02.said his client was shocked and horrified when the Semtex was shown
:04:03. > :04:04.to him and he said he came from a Republican background but was a
:04:05. > :04:09.strong supporter of the peace process and was vehemently against
:04:10. > :04:12.any dissident activity. The solicitor said Mr Hughes, who is
:04:13. > :04:16.originally from Glasgow, had been frank and open with the police. He
:04:17. > :04:20.had told them he did not stay in the flat but lived with his partner, who
:04:21. > :04:24.was in the court. She waved and gave him the thumbs up as he was remanded
:04:25. > :04:31.in custody. The district judge said it would be foolhardy to release Mr
:04:32. > :04:36.Hughes on bail at this time. A rider has been killed at today's Tandragee
:04:37. > :04:40.100 road races in County Armagh. He was Noel Murphy, who was in his late
:04:41. > :04:44.20s and from Lusk in County Dublin. He crashed on the Cooley Hill Road
:04:45. > :04:53.at around midday in the Junior Support race. No other competitor
:04:54. > :04:56.was involved. The races resumed this afternoon on the wishes of Mr
:04:57. > :04:59.Murphy's father and partner, who had been attending the event Let's get
:05:00. > :05:01.the weather forecast for the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend. Here's
:05:02. > :05:09.Geoff. There is more rain on the way and
:05:10. > :05:13.after despite early in the night there is more rain arriving. It is
:05:14. > :05:20.quite mild night with overnight lows of or 12 degrees. It does mean that
:05:21. > :05:26.tomorrow has a dank, great start before some more rain arrives later
:05:27. > :05:29.on. This is the picture, the rain take some time to clear away and
:05:30. > :05:35.then we have refreshed by it through the middle of the day before more
:05:36. > :05:40.rain arrives from the West later on. Top temperatures tomorrow of 14
:05:41. > :05:43.degrees. We are in the soggy zone of weather across the UK and Ireland,
:05:44. > :05:49.Northern Ireland and Scotland suffering the worst and England and
:05:50. > :05:56.Wales has a decent afternoon. Particularly for southern England.
:05:57. > :06:00.Nothing as good for us, I am afraid, as rain continues the afternoon and
:06:01. > :06:04.evening and overnight lows of nine or 10 degrees. I would love to tell
:06:05. > :06:10.you that things improve for bank holiday Monday but I'm afraid they
:06:11. > :06:13.do not. This is the picture, it might be dry for the start of the
:06:14. > :06:19.marathon in Belfast at nine o'clock but by the Finnish time, that rain
:06:20. > :06:24.will be spreading towards all parts with top temperatures of 12 or 13
:06:25. > :06:28.degrees. At least the garden will enjoy some of that rain, it is not
:06:29. > :06:32.bank holiday weather for the rest of us. That's it for now. Newsline will
:06:33. > :06:36.be back tomorrow evening at 6:50pm. You can keep up-to-date with local
:06:37. > :06:37.news on BBC Radio Ulster or on our local online service. Have a good
:06:38. > :06:40.evening.